Finding the "Good" in Good-bye

It's a word I hate. "Good-bye." We had to say it again today as Tom and Kay Moll ended their fourteen-plus years ministry with Christ's Church at Mason (Ohio).
I didn't think saying the word would bring me to tears like it usually does. After all, this good-bye is a gateway to many good things things in the future.
Soon we'll say "hello" to Trevor DeVage and a new chapter in the service of our church. "I think the church's best days are ahead," Tom said in his final sermon this morning. Many of us would agree.
But today was a day for thinking briefly about the past. Kay gave a sweet and moving testimony to Tom's 50 years of ministry in a video tribute that preceded his appearance on the platform for his Sunday-morning sermon. She mentioned the thousands of Saturdays he spent calling, the uncounted nights he left home to help someone facing crisis, the commitment to uncovering  the truth in passages he was preaching.  The video reminded us of our church's growth from 600 to more than 3,000 members in his years at Mason, the three building programs, the church's growth in service to others as well as attendance within our walls on the weekends.
Considering the consistent, week-in-week-out faithfulness of this couple was the trigger for my tears. Remembering their lifetime of good choices and sacrifices, realizing the uncounted hours they've spent studying, preparing, and traveling to speak and serve--it's an example and challenge to all of us who know them and have been served by their goodness.
It's not that Evelyn and I have been close friends of Tom and Kay. We won't miss them the way we miss friends who move away. But thinking today about all they've given, not as perfect people but as perfectly committed people, helped us realize what we will remember about them for years to come.
And that's the "good," the very good, in this  "good-bye."

I snapped this picture of Mary Jane Burgess and Kay Moll at the lovely reception for Tom
and Kay hosted by our elders and their wives this afternoon at the church.
Mary Jane and her husband John came to hear Tom's last sermon this morning.
We enjoyed brunch with them after the early service and a brief visit at our place after that,
and then we got to the church a little after the reception's starting time, 2:00,
and waited in line 30 minutes or longer
before we could tell Tom and Kay thank-you face-to-face.

A Good Day, and New Days Ahead

It's been a good day. I spent both hours in our Classic Praise services, because I was playing piano for the hymn singing today. I sometimes wonder why I'm doing this with so many others in the church who do it so much better than I, but I'll keep playing as long as they keep asking me. (But I won't be upset if they pare down the list, and I'm not on it!)
Tom Moll preached a good sermon about friendship. The point that stuck with me most was his reference to John 15:14, 15:

You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.

It IS amazing, isn't it, that Jesus, who oversaw the creation of the universe, would call his followers friends? The sermon challenges me to be a better friend to Jesus!

As Tom preached, I got to thinking about all he's done for Christ's Church at Mason--the growth from several hundred to well over 2,000 in the years he's been here, the faithful pastoral and evangelistic calling, the excellent national reputation he's enjoyed (and deserved!). When he came we were a somewhat discouraged large church with waning attendance, needing direction and leadership. Now we are a thriving megachurch full every week with happy disciples of all ages. During the years Tom has been at Mason, churches all around us have languished or divided or dissolved. We tend to take for granted, I think, his role (and Kay's role!) in getting us where we are today.
But nothing stands still, and growth always means change. In the case of our church, that change will come as we welcome a new minister, because Tom and Kay have decided to retire. So many will hate to see them go, but Tom has already worked past traditional retirement age, and he deserves to turn the page on this next fulfilling chapter of his life.
This morning the church distributed a beautiful four-color brochure introducing us to the ministerial candidate to fill the pulpit after Tom leaves. In many ways, this young man is nothing like Tom.

For one thing, he IS young--about 32 years old if I've figured right. Although he has had many ministry experiences, including many opportunities to lead, develop volunteers, and preach, he's never been the senior minister of a church. Nevertheless, he comes to us from a church close to twice our size. (And so often a church calls a minister who has never led a church as large as the new church he's going to. That's a problem Trevor won't have if he comes to Mason.)
Some things about Trevor's appearance may be a little surprising at first, and although he and his wife both have degrees from Lincoln Christian University, they've had hobbies and experiences not typical of every Bible college graduate.
But in all the crucial ways, Tom and Trevor are very similar. Tom came to us committed to lead, and Trevor has proven himself a leader. Tom has faithfully preached the Bible, and Trevor's commitment to the authority of Scripture and the biblical plan of salvation is sure and sound. Tom has a passion for lost people, and Trevor has already dreamed dreams about how our church can penetrate the culture around us with the beauty and transforming power of the gospel.
Tom came to us with a sterling reputation and the recommendations of many who knew him. And I wish that brochure we published would have included the endorsements of those who have worked closely with Trevor. His spirituality, his work ethic, his family, his leadership ability, his giftedness in the pulpit--all these were lifted up for us by members of his current church and from others who have known him through the years.
As I listened to Tom preach today, I remembered discussions among our search committee about how difficult it is to get one megachurch preacher to come preach at another. But more than one church has found a sharp preaching associate from a megachurch to come take the helm as the most public leader of their congregation.
That's the course we're pursuing, and many of us believe Trevor can lead us to dynamic new days of evangelism, outreach, and growth--both in numbers and in depth.
I suppose one of the most impressive things about Trevor is the way he engages those he meets. That's why I'm praying as many as possible from our church will be able to meet him before he preaches his "trial sermon" on November 4. I'm glad our leaders are planning opportunities for folks to do that, and I'm looking forward to that weekend.
Yes, it has been a good day today. The beautiful autumn sunshine and colorful leaf display all around remind us that God is the author of beauty, joy, and order. And he's established the church, congregations like ours, to show a lost world how that joy can characterize every life. I'm ready for new challenges to do that, and I believe Trevor will bring them. That may be what excites me most about him.